GB1053789A - - Google Patents

Abstract

1,053,789. Lycopene. RHONE-POULENC S.A. May 13, 1965 [May 14, 1964]. No.20316/65. Heading C5E. Lycopene is obtained by aerobic cultivation of + and - forms of Blakeslea trispora (NRRL 2456 and 2457) in a nutrient medium containing a heterocyclic compound which contains the ring skeleton in which A is a residue making up a 5- or 6- membered uncondensed ring, e.g. -C-, -N-, -C-C-, -C-O-, or -O-C-. Substituents which may be present are C 1 -C 4 alkyl, an oxo group (when A contains oxygen or nitrogen), C 1 -C 4 alkanoylamino or another similar ring system. Specified compounds are imidazole, mono- and di-alkylimidazoles, pyridine, mono-, di- and tri-alkylpyridines, 2-acetylaminoimidazole, morpholine, piperidine, creatinine, 1,1<SP>1</SP>- carbonyldiimidazole and 2 - (4 - pyridyl)-imidazole. They are added to the culture medium in amounts of 0.01-4 g. per litre at the beginning or during the fermentation, which is then continued for 6-10 days. The culture medium also contains a carbon source, e.g. glucose, dextrines, starch, lard, soya bean oil or cottonseed oil, a nitrogen source, e.g. casein, lactalbumin, gluten and their hydrolysates, soya bean and peanut flours, yeast extract, distillers' solubles and corn steep liquor, mineral elements which may also have a buffering effect, e.g. alkali or alkaline earth metal phosphates or magnesium sulphate, growth factors, e.g. Vitamin B 1 or thiamin, antioxidants, e.g. N,N<SP>1</SP>- diphenyl - p - phenylenediamine, 2,2,4 - trimethyl - 6 - ethoxy - 1,2 - dihydroquinoline, ascorbic acid or sorbic acid, surface active agents, e.g. derivatives of sorbitol with fatty acids or ethylene oxide condensate derivatives and thickeners, e.g. starch, carboxymethylcellulose and agar. The lycopene is separated and recovered chromatographically.